A mobile edge computing (MEC) server is a node newly added in a mobile communications network. The MEC server is usually deployed on a user plane interface between an access network device and a core network access gateway. For example, in a 4th-generation mobile communications technology, the access network device may be an evolved access network device, and the core network access gateway may be a serving gateway (SGW). The MEC server includes an MEC platform and multiple applications deployed on the MEC platform. The MEC platform, as a core of the MEC server, can manage the multiple applications, and can provide services to the multiple applications. User equipment (UE) can obtain, from the MEC platform by using a radio access network (RAN), application data provided by the applications.
In the related art, an MEC server and an access network device are correspondingly deployed. Usually, one MEC server is deployed on a user plane interface between each access network device and a core network access gateway, and the MEC server can communicate with the corresponding access network device. After accessing the access network device, UE can obtain, by using the access network device, related application data from the MEC server corresponding to the access network device.
However, when UE is being handed over from a source access network device to a target access network device, because the source access network device and the target access network device correspond to different MEC servers, provision of application data by a source MEC server to the UE is interrupted, resulting in poor continuity of obtaining application data by the UE from an MEC server.